Fred Alger Management LLC Sells 118,696 Shares of Blackstone Inc. $BX

Key Points

• Fred Alger Management LLC reduced its stake in Blackstone Inc. by 46.4%, owning 137,188 shares valued at approximately $19.18 million as of the end of the most recent quarter.
• Other investors, including Vanguard Group Inc. and Goldman Sachs Group Inc., have also increased their holdings in Blackstone during the same period, demonstrating ongoing institutional interest.
• Blackstone recently raised its quarterly dividend to $1.03 per share, reflecting a boost from the previous dividend of $0.93, with a current yield of 2.4%.

Fred Alger Management LLC trimmed its holdings in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) by 46.4% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 137,188 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 118,696 shares during the period. Fred Alger Management LLC's holdings in Blackstone were worth $19,176,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 1.6% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 67,997,581 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $9,504,702,000 after buying an additional 1,102,949 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 16.3% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 5,292,320 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $739,761,000 after buying an additional 742,829 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 2.9% during the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,162,867 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $581,886,000 after buying an additional 117,724 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 19.8% during the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 4,109,020 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $708,477,000 after buying an additional 678,111 shares during the period. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 2,558,241 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $441,091,000 after buying an additional 34,526 shares during the period. 70.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Blackstone Stock Up 3.2%

BX traded up $5.68 during trading on Thursday, reaching $183.91. The company had a trading volume of 6,394,342 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,231,285. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.74. Blackstone Inc. has a 12 month low of $115.66 and a 12 month high of $200.96. The company has a market cap of $135.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 49.44, a PEG ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.77. The business's fifty day moving average price is $168.94 and its 200 day moving average price is $150.24.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The asset manager reported $1.21 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.10 by $0.11. Blackstone had a net margin of 20.83% and a return on equity of 20.47%. The business had revenue of $3.07 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.77 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.98 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 32.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 4th were paid a $1.03 dividend. This is an increase from Blackstone's previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. This represents a $4.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 4th. Blackstone's payout ratio is currently 110.75%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Blackstone news, insider John G. Finley sold 21,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.46, for a total transaction of $3,686,390.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 453,836 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $77,814,720.56. This represents a 4.52% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Joseph Baratta sold 100,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $167.36, for a total transaction of $16,736,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 808,757 shares of the company's stock, valued at $135,353,571.52. The trade was a 11.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have acquired 1,189,806 shares of company stock valued at $30,046,627 and have sold 16,871,634 shares valued at $135,328,376. 1.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Blackstone from $168.00 to $181.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $153.00 to $167.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Dbs Bank upgraded shares of Blackstone to a "moderate buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 12th. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $157.00 to $181.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Finally, Citigroup reiterated a "market perform" rating on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Saturday, July 19th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Blackstone presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $172.38.

About Blackstone

Blackstone Inc is an alternative asset management firm specializing in real estate, private equity, hedge fund solutions, credit, secondary funds of funds, public debt and equity and multi-asset class strategies. The firm typically invests in early-stage companies. It also provide capital markets services.